Calvin Prof Wins Kenyan Lit Awards

November 9, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: A Calvin faculty member has won a duo of prestigious Kenyan
literature awards.

Full story and JPG see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/nyambura-book-awards.htm

A Calvin faculty member has won a duo of prestigious Kenyan literature
awards.

Nyambura Mpesha, a professor of Kiswahili at Calvin, has won awards in two
categories of the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. The honor, awarded
biennially by the Kenya Publishers Association, recognizes the best in Kenyan
literature.

Mpesha, a native of Kenya, won the first prize in the Kiswahili children's
fiction category for Hanna na Wanyama (Hanna and the Animals) and the third
prize in the English Children's Fiction category for Far, Far Away.

In honor of those accomplishments the Office for Multicultural Affairs at
Calvin will host a book reception for Mpesha on November 19 from 3 to 4:30
p.m.

Hanna na Wanyama tells the story of Hanna, who loves both Tomi, her dog who
escorts her to school, and Pusika, her cat who waits for her at home, but she
longs to have more animals. Mpesha wrote Hanna and the Animals at the request
of Phoenix Publishers, the company for whom she has authored several books. The
book is intended not only to tell a story but to teach the Kiswahili language,
which is taught from grade one through high school in Kenya.

Far, Far Away, which is used to teach English in the primary grades, is based
on two African folksongs. Both songs, though they take different approaches,
are about a little bird.

In addition to writing children's books and teaching, Mpesha has also written
a bibliography of African literature and done research on oral literature. It
was the oral tradition in which she was raised that inspired her to write.

"I loved reading. But I was also brought up hearing my grandmother tell
stories," she said. "I felt I needed to share stories."

Mpesha is concerned that the oral tradition in her native land is slowly dying
out.

"Because storytelling in the home situation is becoming less and less, I'm
feeling that children are needing to read more and more," she said.

While she is gratified to have won awards for her work, Mpesha is not sure
when she'll actually be able to pick them up.

"I could have picked them up on the 30th of September, but I'm a long way
away, and I don't think that they provide for that kind of travel, so I’ll
have to go when it's convenient to pick them up," she said, laughing.

-end-
Received on Fri Nov 9 12:02:00 2007